Cheap Beer

[darwinian]

Many Thai restaurants in the UK sell Chang.
Some prefer Singha.
Singha is also sold in Waitrose.

[flyboy]

The strength of the beer has nowt to do with Chang not being available - just look at Belgium beers, special brew etc. Maybe the the Chang sponsorship is aimed at breaking down the last bastion of control Singha may still have - export?

I hope Chang can break the Singha monopoly, especially on Thai Airways. Only ever two choices. Singha and Heinechen.

[Jaime]

I'm pretty sure that the Chang available here in the UK is not 6.5% but more like 5%.

[Kraka's Dad]

Chang is available in UK. They sponsor Everton.
Not easy to come by though.
Everton sell it at the ground and you can get it in some Cash & Carries
Singha is sold by Sainsburys.

Not as good as drinking it in the wonderful LOS though.

[Rob c]

I'm pretty sure that the Chang available here in the UK is not 6.5% but more like 5%

Indeed it is, Chang Export is only 5%, which as stated, is available at some cash & carries for around 17.00GBP per case + vat. There's an internet company in the UK that sells the full strength stuff though for 1.04GBP per bottle + they sell Sang Som, Maekong etc.

[flyboy]

Chang is available in UK. They sponsor Everton.
Not easy to come by though.
Everton sell it at the ground and you can get it in some Cash & Carries
Singha is sold by Sainsburys.

Not as good as drinking it in the wonderful LOS though.

Right on. Nothing like sitting at a beer bar in LOS with a cold Chang in a styrofoam cooler. 84 days and counting!

[SugarCane]

You've lost your Avatar

Thank you Big Boy.

My husband get new one. Old one kaput.

Sawai Mai

[Onlyme]

Sorry if i've missed anything but, I remember an old friend introducing me to Elephant beer in the UK many, many years ago. It was brewed by Carslberg. Now if you put two and two together, it was probably Carlsberg that got it going in the LOS?
The first time I came across Chang(if my memory serves me right) was on Samui in about 1996? They couldn't give it away! I had a friend with a bar on Lamai and he had to buy it or otherwise the distributors wouldn't let him have any Sang Thip ( a big seller at the time.)So his fridges were full of Chang beers.
Onlyme.

[Guess]

Well you have put two and two together and come up with the right answer. It extends further than that though. Carleberg registerd the local language for Elephant in as many countries as they could but as far as I know it is only Thailand and Denmark where it has really taken off.

Chang was indeed started way back with some sort of franchise deal with the brewers. That relationship went sour about three years ago and Carlslberg production was stopped here in Thailand. They (Carlsberg) have attempted many times to make further deals with other brewers but failed. I belive the issue is always over royalties and advertising budgets. Heineken, Tiger and Asahi have not been so greedy and have at least in two cases succeded here in Thailand. There are a couple more in the pipeline which will be available next year so I have heard. One rumour is that one will be a well known English brand. My guess it that they would be Bass (Belgian company) or Newcastle Brown (already available imported). Fullers also are well into export as are Moorlands-Greene King and Sam Smiths.

The other will probably be Stella (same company as Bass).

[Jaime]

Well you have put two and two together and come up with the right answer. It extends further than that though. Carleberg registerd the local language for Elephant in as many countries as they could but as far as I know it is only Thailand and Denmark where it has really taken off.

It also has nothing to do with Thailand or any other country but is named after The Elephant Gate at the entrance to the Carlsberg brewery in Copenhagen.

I read that on the label of a bottle of Elephant Beer! But here's a picture of the Carlsberg brewery gate to prove it:

http://kimbofo.smugmug.com/photos/22142712-S.jpg

[bushman]

I suppose Americans can drink this awful stuff.
I was told that it is made from rice!

Not all Americans like that stuff. I love Chang beer. Untill recently, many bars in BKK did not offer Chang beer. Got to love that beer. Never seen it her in my area. Now 78 days and counting down

Bush

[Guess]

It also has nothing to do with Thailand or any other country but is named after The Elephant Gate at the entrance to the Carlsberg brewery in Copenhagen.

I read that on the label of a bottle of Elephant Beer! But here's a picture of the Carlsberg brewery gate to prove it:

http://kimbofo.smugmug.com/photos/22142712-S.jpg

We may be talking at cross purposes her. Carlsberg is a 150 year old company and probably usesd the name elephant (or whatever that is in Danish) many years ago. The export of carlsberg started much more recently and at one time were the world number on exporters of beer. The securing of the label Chang in Thailand is more recent and Carlsberg did attempt register the name Elephant in other languages for future expansion.

Jacobsen set up the Carlsberg Laboratory in 1875 which worked on scientific problems related to brewing. It featured a Department of Chemistry and a Department of Physiology. The species of yeast used to make pale lager, Saccharomyces carlsbergensis, was isolated at the Laboratory and was named after it. The concept of pH was developed there as well as advances in protein chemistry. The laboratory was part of the Carlsberg Foundation until 1972 when it was renamed the Carlsberg Research Center and transferred to the brewery.

The old brewery in Copenhagen is open for tours and famous visitors have included Winston Churchill and Queen Elizabeth II.

Carlsberg acquired Tuborg breweries in 1970 and merged with Tetley in 1992.

Carlsberg has two breweries in China - Huizhou and Shanghai. It used to have one in Hong Kong, but shut it down in 1999 due to high costs. Carlsberg's Shanghai brewery started production in 1998.

The joint-venture started in 1991 to brew Carlsberg beer in Thailand, and in 1994 the Chang brand was created. It managed to win 70% of market share in Thailand after a hard market fight with the previously biggest brand Singha.

In 2004 a deal was agreed for Chang to sponsor Everton of the English Premiership.

The split between Chang and Calsberg was well published at the time and somehow Chang managed to retain the label and contiue brewing. The good thing now is that they have reached their peak and are begining to lose market share to the likes of Heineken, San Miguel and Tiger.

[PeteC]

It's a good beer and I always liked it as first choice when it was here. Your history of modern times though seems to me that they recruited their COO from Malawi?

They have been left in the dust by other breweries here in Asia, it seems.

Perhaps too conservative. They need to get off their ass. Pete

[donintheusa]

after the 4th beer, what is the difference anyway.

[HansMartin]

The difference is how you feel the next morning -- Chang in Thailand and Budweiser in the USA are examples of beers that lead to bad mornings.


What other beers have posters drank (in Thailand or your home country) that have lead to particularly bad mornings?